Paul Fusco

Paul Fusco is a member of Magnum since 1974, being first an associate in 1973. Is work is almost all about the issues injustices , such as poverty, ghetto life and cultural experimentation across the United States and in many others places in the world. The most notable work by Fusco is Chernobyl Legacy. This work consists in an approach made by Fusco to the cruel accident enduring effects to one of the biggest nuclear accident in the world history. Photographs that show the day to day of the children and their families who were affected by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl explosion. In this project, all the subjects are carefully illuminate. The light gives a more dramatic approach, makes it more tuff to look at. But when we look and we  think that it is tuff for us, how can it be for that families? Another notable work of Fusco is RFK Funeral Train, this project was made for Look magazine and the main point of it was to document all the events surrounding Kennedy's funeral. This project is presented with soft colours,  showing all the people who stood by the railroad tracks  while the train that was transporting the body of Robert F Kennedy was passing. The kind of people who stood out there were almost ordinary Americans. We can say that, in his work, Paulo Fusco is trying to understand the reality of life, how life is and what it means.

Source

http://www.paulfuscophoto.com/

http://mediastorm.com/contributor/paul-fusco/55

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/chernobyl

Modernism / Post-modernism

Cosmopolitan aesthetic of enthusiasm, which defined the arts and culture at the turn of the century. Modernism is marked by a period of euphoria, face to the new technological inventions, a bigger freedom of writing, questioning the values ​​ established ethical and literary. There was a main concern for tomorrow, leaving behind yesterday and today. Although all the modernist process had overtaken amazing ideas and visions, the devastation and waste was enormous, and even thought the technology world was growing there was a reduce of human labour and we were able too see them starving. It had an huge impact in our lives, all this progress of technology reduce the quality of life to machines, to the new industry. A period where the excessive confidence, demonstrated in the narratives of social transformation, and the wish of technology was visible. Against this industrial revolution we have the post-modernism, a reaction to modernism; it comes to “devalue” the modernist ideals. The taste of rewrite and seduction by the amendment and correction of past events; break down the barriers that exist between high culture and mass culture are some of the fundamental aspects that characterize post-modernism. Will appear as a sort of a "reborn" of the ideas banned by the modernists. While post-modernism is concerned with the plurality, past, modernism as a higher concern with principles such as identity, authority and unity.

Source

http://www.artmovements.co.uk/modernism.htm

http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0255.html

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html

http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm

Kent Klich

Kent Klich start to work with trouble adolescents as a psychologist, and after we turn to photography. He was part of the Magnum agency from 1998 until 2002. It is notable in his work a strong commitment to social issues, drug addicts, HIV, prostitutes, and so. The first that I heard about Kent Klich was through Magnum book where his work Children of Ceausescu was present. This work is about the HIV crisis of Romanian children and even though it is an horrible reality and a fact that, probably, 50% of our society is not aware of, I can not help but notice in the "beautiful" aesthetic of this work. His approach, the scale of  greys, the emotion present in every photograph, the expressions, how he are affected by this work. Another work that captured my attention was Book of Beth. It talks about a reality that we are all aware of, or at least we should be, a prostitute and addict. Is this a cliché? Was already done? Well, yes. Many of us are already tired of this subject but we can not say that it not affect us, that every time  a work with this subject it's not different, it's a different approach, a different view. At first sight we are  shocked with the lack of any modesty to the her intimacy. A book of a life, so perfectly described.  Every one of us have something destructive in their lives, we all have our addictions, our fears.

 

       Source

       http://www.kentklich.com/

       http://5b4.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-of-beth-and-picture-imperfect-by.html

William Eggleston - "Father of Colour"

Eggleston firstly started to photograph in black and white film and we are able to see a small influence of Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank. Later, round 1965, he later start to experiment colour film. In some things, similar to Stephen Shore work, William Eggleston is a photographer who can in an extraordinary way, capture the colors of the most trivial things. In 1976 William Eggleston made history by is work to be exhibited in colour in the New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). During this time, Eggleston, was introduced to Andy Warhol, with hom he started a long relationship and became familiar with Warhol's circle. By this time, Eggleston, started to experiment video. He produced a mixed of several hours of tender shots of his children at home with shots of drunken parties, public urination and a man biting off a chicken's head before a cheering crowd. Not having a specific theme, Eggleston's photographs show scenes of the day to day, friends and photographers. Even though it seems impossible by having this amazing results of photographs, Eggleston only takes one photograph of one thing, so that, the next one is waiting somewhere else.
 

Source

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/william-eggleston/

http://hateface.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/before-colour-william-eggleston-in-black-and-white/

http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo24/william_eggleston.htm

 

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of nature, types and functions of signs. The study of signs has achieved great importance in the context of communication theory. A sign is any element that is used to express a physical or psychological reality, on this relationship the first one works as signifier compared to the second, which is the signified (or referent), the relationship between signifier and signified can be of two types: denotation and connotation. A traffic signal, a noise, a gesture are all examples of signs. These signs mean nothing without a code that will establish the relationship between both of them, therefore making possible the interpretation of signs. Each community develops its systems of signs and their codes in order to facilitate communication among the members. Many codes have been established in human societies, being the language the most important code (spoken and written) and the non-verbal codes, the creation of verbal signs preceded the creation of non-verbal signs. The signs provide the meaning to define or refer to everything we have learned through the senses, and what we think we know or think we want: the signs allow the conceptualization (the formation of an idea about a reality not present), they strongly influence the human behaviour and our perception of the world.

Source

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html

http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/introduction.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/semiotics

Robert Frank

Robert Frank is just one more of the photographers who travelled the world . Having 'The Americans' has one of his most important works, Frank photography is a universal language. In his pictures he always tries to have something for the reader to see and interpret. His work shows more than it seems, in all the photos we can discover more of what we see at first sight. In one hand we can see in his work feelings between people, as despair, money, loneliness, emptiness, sadness, all this is represented with funerals, gestures, expressions, bankers, desert landscapes. And in other hand we  can also see hope, serenity, joy, dancing, fellowship represented by families, couples, crowds and landscapes. Even if his photos are the opposite in all we can find a connection of emotions and feelings.

Source

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/14/090914fa_fact_lane

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100688154

 

 

                             

Stephen Shore

Began his career at the age of 14, when he first sold to the Museum of Modern Art three of his works,  Stephen Shore primarily start shooting with 35mm black and white film. He made one of his first works (17 years) when he met Andy Warhol and start to shoot people who attended the Silver Factory.  When Shore began shooting in colour (1970) he used large format in very detailed landscapes. In 1971, Shore, was the first living photographer to exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. At the age of 25 his attention turned specifically to the American landscape, documenting the  American life, street corners, gas stations and so. In this work, Shore, photographed in colour, starting to use the medium format first and large format later. The result of these trips were his bets known books: American Surfaces and Uncommon Places.
His photos had a big impact in America because Shore was focused on the insignificance of modern life, he would only shoot the 'beauty' when he could find it in the common places. It was one of the first photographers working in colour, capturing blue skies, scenes and banal objects with saturated colours and dynamic.

Source

http://wwar.com/masters/s/shore-stephen.html

http://photo-muse.blogspot.com/2007/09/more-stephen-shore-bonus.html

http://www.billcharles.com/catalog/stephen_shore/1/

 

"Uncommon Places" by Stephen Shore

"American Surfaces" by Stephen Shore

George Rodger

After studying and have served the British Navy (until 1929) and spent time in America, Rodger started to work as a photographer for the BBC (magazine) and for the agency Black Star. However, it was when he sent his photographs to the Blitz of London, and other magazines that his work started to be known. From there he won prizes and began travelling. Passed by Iran, Burma, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Italy (where he met Robert Capa), among others. George Rodger portrayed the daily life during the German bombing of London and was the first photographer to enter in a concentration camp, therefore, we can see in his photographs some important moments of World War II and the liberation of the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. After this work he decided to not re-shoot death or violence.
In collaboration with Robert Capa and other photographers, in 1947,  he founded the Magnum photo agency. It was in collaboration with Magnum, that Rodger, developed a project on a trip to the North of Africa - 1939 and 1945 - where he took photos of the old civilization that was not affected by the war. This project first appeared in 1951 on the National Geographic. Besides this project he made other trips to Africa and Middle East where he tried to photograph the animal life, rituals and lifestyles in relation to nature.

Source

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/02/06/060208_george_rodger_feature.shtml

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAProdger.htm

http://www.ursulagropper.com/artists/i_artist.php?a=13&o=3

  http://www.magnumphotos.com

http://www.noorderlicht.com/en/archive/george-rodger/

Feminism

Feminism is a social movement that the main interest is the equal rights and status between men and women. Although throughout history a range of philosophical and religious schools have defended the dignity and rights of women in many different situations, the feminist movement dates back to the French Revolution. Since the beginning of the revolution, French women participated actively in political life and created several female activists clubs. The hard working conditions imposed on women, led them to claim conditions that would match with the working class in general. This time dates the close relationship of feminism with the left movements.

Since the early twentieth century, the situation changed rapidly over the world. The Russian Revolution of 1917 gave voting rights to women and in 1930 they have already voted in New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), Norway (1913) and Ecuador (1929).  Around 1950, the list included more than one hundred nations. After the Second World War, feminism re-emerged with intensified force, under the influence of Le Deuxième Sexe works as (1949, The Second Sex), France's Simone de Beauvoir and The Feminine Mystique (1963; The Feminine Mystique), by American Betty Friedan. In the United Kingdom stood out Germaine Greer, Australian born, author of The Female Eunuch (1971; The woman eunuch), considered the manifesto more realistic than women's liberation movement.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism

http://feminism.eserver.org/

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/

http://www.friesian.com/feminism.htm